TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2023)
“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying,
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:54-60 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 43RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
It is a great day from the LORD God Almighty, and we are grateful. We begin another fresh week today; our eyes are on He who formed us in our mothers’ wombs. He is still able, and more than able to keep us!
We have been on a 28-day journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on supernatural living. It’s been a great time with living truths about the supernatural life the LORD designed men to live; something mankind later lost to sin. The Bible says;
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Romans 3:23-24 NKJV
Today, though justified freely by God’s grace Jesus Christ, the shortness of the glory mankind experienced through the original sin, is still hunting the entire human race. The reason for the absent of the supernatural of God in the lives of many, and the presence of the dark supernatural in others, all tell us how short the glory of God has become in our lives.
Most of mankind have been confined to the natural, and in some cases, the dark supernatural, or a mixture of both. But in the beginning, it was not so! We are just struggling with what the Bible calls the wages of sin. That is why consecration after salvation, remains the foundation of the supernatural in God.
Sometimes, I sit back to reason how our world would have been if what happened in the Garden of Eden had not happened. The supernatural of God, would not have been what we need to learn how to walk in, but something we are born into.
YOU KNOW, YOU DO NOT TEACH A FISH HOW TO SWIM; THAT IS HOW IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH US.
We would have been born living, walking, swimming, breathing, getting married, staying married, building our economic lives, staying healthy, learning, growing, eating, procreating, growing crops, inventing, solving problems, and doing all things we do today (apart from sinning), in the supernatural of GOD – the shekinah glory realm.
But now we have to learn all that. This journey itself would not have been necessary if all was as it was originally intended to be. To bring us to God’s original intent, is the reason for even being born again. It is the reason for having Church in God’s design (not Church in man’s design). The Bible says;
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” Ephesians 4:11-13 NKJV
When we get back to original intent, we would not return to how Adam was, that one is gone forever. We will return to how Christ is, being the second Adam. We will return to what the Bible call, a perfect man, or the fulness of the stature of Christ.
We saw that stature in Christ when He walked on water, healed blind eyes, raised the dead like waking men up from sleep, healed all manner of diseases, died, got buried, and resurrected, all in the supernatural of God. He was a complete picture of the perfect man, when He was here, and is currently the perfect man we will become, when we all live for Him, fulfill our days, and step out of this body.
On this side of eternity, a perfect man walks, swims, and lives in the supernatural of God. He lives his earthly life supernaturally. That was why Jesus, as man, walked, swam, and lived in the supernatural when He was here. If you read the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you will see a clear photograph of how a perfect man should live on the present earth.
For instance, Jesus, the perfect man, was the first inventor of what we know today to be ATM, or Automated Teller Machines.
BUT HIS OWN WAS NOT A MACHINE BUT A FISH. THE BIBLE SAYS;
When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” He said, “Yes.”
And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.” Matthew 17:24-27 NKJV
It takes a perfect man to do this.
He got money from the mouth of a fish. He gave Peter the ATM card, the faith, to go and get the money. Peter went, and returned with the money. That was a perfect man. The Bible also said, He was tempted in all points, yet without sin. When we become a perfect man, we enjoy the same dominion over temptations.
A perfect man lives naturally in the supernatural. That is what we see in the life of Christ, and the rest of the men who He worked in and through, before He became flesh to die on the Cross for us. In Him, we saw that a perfect man lives naturally in the supernatural of God.
But there is another revelation of a perfect man. A perfect man does not just live naturally in the supernatural of God, he also dies naturally in the supernatural of GOD. Dying naturally in the supernatural, is what the Bible called, “the death of the righteous.”
It is important to understand that, in the supernatural of GOD, there is supernatural living, and there is supernatural dying. They are the exclusives of a perfect man. That is why, when we become a perfect man, we can live in the supernatural of God, and when our days are fulfilled, we also die in the supernatural of God.
ONE PERFECT MAN THAT LIVED AND DIED THAT WAY, WAS ELISHA. THE BIBLE SAYS;
“Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die….
Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.
So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” 2 Kings 13:14, 20-21 NKJV
You can see in this scripture what it means to die supernaturally. He died, and the presence of God that took Him home, remained on His grave. Months later, it brought a dead person back to life. Only a perfect man can have such testimony.
Another perfect man was Stephen. Concerning him, our devotional text says;
“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:54-60 NKJV
Do you see the way this warrior of righteousness died? It takes dying supernaturally for one to ask God to forgive his killers before passing on. That was after being stoned. And in passing away, he gave up the ghost.
NO DEMON OF DEATH TOOK IT FROM HIM. THAT IS SUPERNATURAL DYING.
In fact, His eyes opened and he saw Christ waiting for him up even before he died. It takes dying supernaturally to see the LORD waiting with open arms to receive you, before passing on. But there was supernatural living also in the story if his life time. The Bible says;
“And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Then there arose some from what is called the synagogue of the freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke…. and all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.” Acts 6:8-10, 15 NKJV
This scripture contains a record of the supernatural life Stephen lived. The Bible says he was full of faith and power, and did wonders and signs among the people. Yet, he was not one of the twelves apostles.
Child of God, it is not about titles but about the realm you operate from.
If you are not a perfect man, you could be an apostle or prophet, you are nothing. It takes a perfect man to live and die supernaturally. The people saw a perfect man, with a face as the face of an angel. They saw a perfect man, full of faith, power and irresistible wisdom; all from above.
You will operate same frequency when you become a perfect man. However, everything will depend on your consecration after salvation.
WHAT WAS THE CONSECRATION PATTERN OF STEPHEN?
You find it in the spiritual credentials that the apostles gave to the Church, when they asked them to get men who will take over the daily assignment, of the distribution of relief material for needy members, while they gave themselves entirely to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
The Bible says;
“Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:1-4 NKJV
From this scripture, it is clear that Stephen was a man of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. All these beautiful credentials are not possible if one is not following the word of the LORD, being intimate with God, or pursuing and loving the LORD passionately.
We can go on and on sharing the beautiful truths gleaned from the life of Stephen, but we have shared enough for the day. As we bring this to a close, understand that God’s intention for you and I, is that we become His perfect men, like Stephen, Elisha, and the rest were.
May this intention of our God be fulfilled in our lives in Jesus precious name. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:19-21 NKJV